Reunited Once More
by Emerald Writer
Summary: Harry Potter has lived a long, full live, experiencing love and loss. Will he ever get to see the ones he's loved so dearly once more?


Harry Potter sat down slowly on his bed and lay down, his grey hair resting on a satin pillow. Two adults, a boy and a girl, gathered on each side, pulling the comforter over him to his waist. "For Merlin's sake, I don't need you to do anything for-" he was interrupted by a long, excruciating cough. Lily Potter sat next to him on a chair, tears filling her eyes. She knew what was going to happen; it was only a matter of time.

"Don't cry, Lily," Harry smiled. "I've lived a long, full live. Your mother loved you very much, and I love you now as well."

"Don't talk, Dad," James Potter responded, looking angrily at the ground. "You'll hurt your voice." Harry looked up at his son. "James, I'm fine," he coughed. "I've lived a lot through my life, and I don't think using my voice is going to kill me."

Albus Severus stepped behind his sister, looking down at his father, half hugging Lily. She took it the hardest when their mother had died, and both brothers wanted her to feel comforted when the time came for Harry to move on.

The door burst open as two younger adults in their early twenties walked towards the bed. "Grandpa," they whispered to him. Although he couldn't hear their whispering, he knew what they had said. "Hi kids," he answered. "How's work?"

They smiled meekly. "Good," the male said and the female nodded. They never thought that this could happen to the saviour of the wizarding world.

More kids entered the room. Harry counted to see if everyone was there. There were ten in all, and 3 spouses; every one of his children were married and with kids. He smiled at this thought, what Ginny and Harry had created. His children were the most powerful in the wizarding world, perhaps more powerful than he; and the younger had the potential to be.

The youngest, a seven year old, ran up to the old man. "Grandpa!" she exclaimed, doll in hand, running to hug him. Her father protested. "It's alright," Harry said, hugging the child. She walked back to Albus, standing in front of him, and stared contentedly in silence.

"I don't want you all to mope about me," he whispered, barely audible, until James cast a hearing spell on him. "I want to tell you things, things it would take me a lifetime to say, and in fact, it has." He paused. The room was patient. "But obviously there's not much more time.

"You all understand what my generation did so that you could all live the way you do; and we were willing to make that sacrifice. We wanted to let you live selfishly as children and live as children longer because we never got the chance to. We had to grow up too fast, and that's never fair.

"I've witnessed more things in my life than anyone should have to. But I've also witnessed the best of people, and I believe that in this way all of you came to be; because every good thing that has happened to me has kept me going."

He paused for a long time, closing his eyes. Lily was just about to ask if he was sleeping until he opened his eyes and continued.

"Albus Severus Potter," he started. "You followed in my footsteps and became an auror, and I am the proudest I could ever be. I wish all the best for you.

"James, you work at the Daily Prophet and have kept it clean and friendly, reporting news instead of gossip, and for that I am proud of you. You look just like my father, and just like me. And I wish you happiness with your family and with your life.

"Lily. You are noble enough to work at the ministry and still manage a husband and three children. You look just like your mother and I see a lot of her in you. I love you deeply and will always have respect for you.

"My grandchildren. I love you all just as much as if you were my own. You are well disciplined and will follow in your parents' footsteps as they have followed in mine.

"I care about all of you deeply. I wish there were more words to describe how much you all mean to me. But my time has come." By this time, nearly the entire room was crying, hugging each other and comforting each other. "I wish you all happiness in your life, and rest assure you that I have lived the best life I could ever live." His eyes finally shut, never to open again.

Harry opened his eyes to see a dream. He floated on clouds, seeing a perfect blue sky. He looked around. "Hello?" he shouted. Realizing his voice seemed to be like it did when he was younger, he looked down to see himself in his twenties. He nearly fell in astonishment. Looking to his left, he saw shadows creeping towards him slowly.

A Person emerged from the shadows, though he couldn't make that person out until she was directly in front of him.

It was a red haired girl in her twenties, about the same height as Harry. Her eyes shone with a certain ferocity Harry hadn't seen in nearly three years.

It was Ginny.

He glared at her, shocked. She smiled. "Harry," she exclaimed, throwing her arms around him. He returned the hug, coming back to reality. "Am I dreaming?" he asked her.

She just smiled. "Better," Ginny answered. "You've moved on."

"By moved on, I suppose you mean...I'm dead?"

"Yes," Ginny replied enthusiastically. "Isn't it great?"

Ginny could see that she needed to explain what was happening. So she obliged. "Once you're dead, if you've lived a good life, you return to your best year in life; age wise, I mean. And we both return to our twenties. It seems the best of everyone's life is about the same time frame as ours."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked. "You mean...I can meet everyone?"

"Yes," Ginny responded. "You will. But backwards. You will see everyone from the last people that have moved on to the first in your life. Important people in your life. Oh, Harry, I'm so happy to see you!" She exclaimed, bringing her lips to his. She pulled away and frowned. "But unfortunately there isn't much time. Before I can spend more time with you, you'll have to be reunited with everyone. So I'll have to go; you remember who comes next, right?"

Harry was still in a daze. He thought about that question, then realized the answer in excitement. "Ron and Hermione!"

In a flash, Ginny vanished, and Ron appeared, Hermione following soon after him. They appeared in front of him, Hermione hugging him and Ron laughing happily. "It's so good to see you!" Hermione exclaimed. "Can you believe this? It's been a whole five years and I still can't believe it."

"Though I have to admit," Ron answered, "dying wasn't exactly the best thing to happen, was it?"

Harry stood there, more shocked than before. "Is all of this real?" he asked them.

They both smiled. "'Course it is, mate," Ron answered, slapping him on the shoulder.

"So I'm really meeting everyone that died...backwards?"

"Yes," was Hermione's answer. "You are. And there are a lot of them, so be prepared. It may take hours unless you make it short. You'll see all of us at once when you're through," she answered, reading his mind.

"So next would be..." Ron and Hermione vanished as another shadow appeared, walking towards Harry. This was unbelieveable; all the losses he'd suffered through his years were appearing to him in mere minutes.

The next to walk up to him was Arthur and Molly Weasley, parents of Ron and practically family to Harry. They appeared younger than Harry had seen him; that must have been the best time for them.

"Harry!" Molly ran up to him and held him in a tight embrace; just as Harry remembered. They pulled apart and Arthur took his hand, shaking it profusely. "Great to see you!" he said. Molly seemed to be on the verge of crying.

"It's great to see you both again," he told them sweetly, tears welling up in his eyes. They were his second home, the only home he knew as a teen. They welcomed him into his family and he could never truly repay that to them.

"Well," Molly exclaimed, wiping her eyes, "time for us to go. We'll see you soon!" they both disappeared.

Mcgonogall appeared, giving him a tight hug as well. She was young and her hair no longer held silver strands. She was not much older than he. "Professor Mcgonogall!"

"Please, call me Minerva," she smiled, "after all, I'm only slightly older than you are."

They shared small talk again, then she vanished as Harry awaited the next to arrive.

Remus and Tonks. They appeared to be the same age; then again, they were not that old when they died. What struck Harry as odd was Remus' face, though he didn't know why. Suddenly he realised: it was not covered in scratches. He was no longer a werewolf.

As happy as they were to see Harry, they knew Harry would be there when they left. More importantly, he needed to see people he'd waited his entire life to see.

Severus appeared briefly, no longer in revenge on Harry. He shook his hand, talked with him for a bit, then went out. It was not his time to take Harry's time.

Fred appeared, joked with Harry for a bit, then left.

What surprised Harry more than anything was his next visitor: Hedwig. She flew onto Harry shoulder and Harry nearly passed out in surprise. He scratched behind her ears and sighed in contentedness.

Harry didn't believe he would ever see these friends again, but Hedwig surprised him most. Hedwig had been with him for nearly seven loyal years, and was sacrificed to the evil that was Lord Voldemort. Before he could bond with her more, she flew away, disappearing behind the clouds. Harry wondered who would come next.

A tall figure appeared from the direction that Hedwig had gone. Harry knew who this was immediately.

"I haven't seen you since you last died," the man smiled.

He appeared much younger, greys still percalated through his scalp, but beard shorter and wrinkles less abundant. He appeared about sixty years old, but for him it most likely felt like he was thirty.

"Professor," Harry smiled at his former headmaster at Hogwarts.

He ran to Professor Dumbledore and nearly knocked him over in a hug. All of this was too much for Harry and he finally began to cry.

"Please, Harry, call me Albus," Dumbledore choked. He was beginning to get emotional as well. "We're all so proud of you," he smiled at the young wizard. "You've done more than anyone could have ever asked for."

"What is this place?" Harry asked. He never thought to ask anyone until now.

"Whatever you want it to be," was Dumbledore's response. "It is your version of heaven."

Harry sat down on the soft cushion of cloud below him. "Do you remember," Dumbledore asked, "the Room of Requirement?"

"Of course," Harry replied. "How could I not?"

"This, more or less, is the same thing. You can think of anything you want and it will be achieved. But first you have to meet all of the ones you've lost. In this way you will regain all of the happy memories you never had, and only then will you be able to truly enjoy this place.

"I have to go. But I Will be back soon." Dumbledore clasped his hands over his head and vanished in a puff of smoke.

Harry continued sitting on the ground. He'd lost so many people in his life that he couldn't remember the order in which he'd lost them, yet he couldn't retain all of the emotions flowing through his head. He'd waited patiently for half a century to see these people, and although he would only wait moments longer he was impatient as ever.

"Remember me?" a voice called behind him, startling him. He looked up and saw a curly black haired man staring down at him.

Sirius.

Harry jumped up in surprise and grabbed his Godfather tightly in his arms. This was the last of his family to die, leaving him with no one except close friends. Bellatrix Lestrange was killed, avenging his death, but it never seemed right, it never fixed things. Seeing his Godfather in person, however, fixed everything. Harry fell to the ground and weeped.

Sirius kneeled down, picking up Harry's chin. "What's wrong?" he asked sweetly.

"I can't handle all of this," was Harry's reply. "I don't even know if I'm dreaming or not. What if I am? What if all of this is a dream and I'll lose you all again? I don't know...I don't know what to say to all of you. It's all happening so fast-"

Sirius grabbed his Godson and pulled him into a hug. "It's alright," he whispered. "You've gone through more than anyone should ever go through. You're allowed to be suspicious of all of this. But you must be patient, as we were when we died. You will see everyone...and I mean everyone...in due time."

"That's right," a voice answered, kneeling down next to Harry. It was Cedric Diggory, another victim of the killing curse.

"Did it hurt?" Harry asked. "When you died...did it hurt?"

"I can't remember," Cedric answered. "I don't think so. I remember thinking about my family, my Dad. How he wouldn't be able to handle this. And then I thought of you, Harry. I thought, 'he can't die. He has to save everyone.' And then I was here. So it must have been quick."

"The killing curse," Sirius began, "is the most humane of the three unforgivable curses, if you could call it humane. It is painless, and takes less than a second to work. So dying by it is one of the few blessings of death we can have."

"We have to go," Cedric urged. "Harry needs to see everyone."

Harry was staring at the ground. Suddenly he realized who was next. "You mean-" he looked up, but no one was there. Cedric and Sirius were gone.

Harry could hear the wind blowing, no other sounds being made. "Hello?" he called out, but no one answered. "Anyone there?"

He waited for ten minutes, expecting to see two people he wanted to see more than anyone else in the world. People he'd been waiting his whole life to see, to feel, to hug and hold forever.

But no one came.

He thought it was a dream. He thought that this was his mind playing tricks on him, showing him that he will never see them, and that he'd wake up soon and see his family around him, waiting for him to actually die.

Two shadows appeared behind him unnoticed.

"Harry?" a woman's voice echoed silently behind him. Harry turned around slowly. He'd only heard this voice once in his life, yet he remembered it in case he ever got the chance to hear it again.

The woman smiled. "Harry," she whispered, tears running down her cheeks.

A man stood next to her, smiling as well. He looked just like Harry; an older version, perhaps. Except the eyes. The woman held soft green eyes strikingly like Harry's.

Harry thought he would never have the chance to see these people, standing before him.

He'd waited an entire lifetime for this.

But he couldn't move.

Slowly the couple stode towards him. The woman took Harry in his arms, though Harry was still unresponsive. Finally, when he got his wits back, he pulled away enough to look at her. "Mom?" he asked slowly.

She kissed him on the forehead. "Son," she answered silently. She was choked up and could barely speak.

Harry pulled her into a tight hug and couldn't let go. His eyes were closed, yet tears still found their way down his cheek, soaking his shirt.

"You're going to kill him," the man behind them said jokingly. Harry opened his eyes and pulled away from his mother. "Dad!" he yelled and ran to hug him, nearly knocking him over. His father returned the hug. When he pulled away, he looked at his parents for the first time in sixty years. They were finally together, a family.

Slowly, a group of shadows emerged behind them, showing everyone that Harry held dear.

"I believe," Sirius began, stepping next to James, "I told you we would live as a family again when it was all over."

Harry smiled, more tears emerging from the corners of his eyes. He'd lost more people in more ways than anyone ever should.

Yet, living all the deaths backwards, seeing everyone he'd lost, he realized he had more love in his life than most people ever get the chance to experience.

"We're all a family now," his mother said, holding her boy once again.

And they were. 


End file.
